In the August Monthly Safety Scenario (MSS) containers collaps and fall into the empty bays due to stiff vessel sailing through heavy weather and unlocked twist locks.

The large container vessel was sailing on a SE course in the North Atlantic, bound for a European port. During the voyage, heavy weather was encountered from ENE at Beaufort scale 9, with 7 m waves. This meant that the wind hit the vessel on its port side, causing heavy rolling. The maximum rolling was 20⁰ to starboard and 30⁰ to port. In the morning, the OOW heard a loud noise astern of the bridge. The master was also on the bridge, and when they looked out of the window they could see that some of the container bays had collapsed and that some containers had fallen into the empty bays.

Download the August MSS Case: Containers lost in heavy weather»

For more Loss Prevention information, please contact: 
Joakim Enström, Loss Prevention Officer
E-mail: joakim.enstrom@swedishclub.com

Each month the Club’s Loss Prevention team issues a new safety scenario to assist members in their efforts to comply with international safety regulations and to follow best practice. 

When discussing the case please consider that the actions taken at the time made sense for all involved. Do not only judge, but also ask why you think these actions were taken and could this happen on your vessel?